Palin starts year with $1.3M

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin headed into this year with more than $1.3 million in her political action committee, according a financial disclosure filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

The filing shows no indication that Palin has started to ramp up for a potential presidential run, as no new staff shows up on SarahPAC’s expenses — which remain very low compared to a campaign of even moderate size. Her PAC spent nearly $230,000 for the period between the end of the campaign and end of the calendar year, and more than $2.6 million in 2010.

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Palin raised $275,000 during the six-week reporting period, bringing her total to $3.5 million for the year. A look through her contributors shows checks come in from across the country — and though not every donor listed their occupation, a large share identify themselves as retired.

Since forming the PAC, Palin has raised roughly $4.5 million and spend $3.2 million.

“We’re really pleased with the support the governor had from across the country during this election cycle,” said SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford.

SarahPAC has not contributed to any other political organizations since the end of the campaign and did not carry any debt into the new year.

There are few surprises in the report, either in the PAC’s spending or in the names of donors.

Beyond the baseline numbers, the only eye-catching line in the SarahPAC disclosure are the two uncashed checks from Palin’s committee to the campaigns of Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), for $2,500 and $5,000 respectively.